Chapter 91: Battle for Fairy Tail (III)
The guild hall was quiet now. The broken tables had been pushed against the walls. The stone dust had been swept into piles. The frozen women were gone, freed from their prisons, scattered across the town to hunt and be hunted. Only the barrier remained, pulsing with soft golden light at the threshold, humming with the steady rhythm of Freed's magic.
Levy McGarden stood before it with her hands raised and her eyes closed. Her lips moved, tracing patterns in the air, reading the runes that only she could see. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her arms trembled from the effort. But she did not stop. She could not stop.
Natsu watched her from the bar. His arms were crossed. His scarf was bright against his burned chest. His eyes were fixed on the light.
Gajeel stood beside him, his arms also crossed, his face unreadable. He had not spoken since Levy began her work. He had not moved. He simply waited, the way dragons waited, the way predators waited.
Happy crouched on the bar between them, his wings folded, his eyes wide. He was afraid. He did not know what was happening. He did not know what was coming. But he knew that Natsu was calm, and that was enough.
Makarov sat on a stool near the window. His small hands were wrapped around a mug of tea that had gone cold. He was not drinking. He was watching Natsu. He had been watching Natsu for a long time.
The barrier flickered.
Levy gasped. Her hands dropped to her sides. Her knees buckled. She caught herself on the edge of a table and held on, breathing hard, her face pale, her eyes bright.
"I have it," she said. "I have the pattern. I can open a path."
Natsu pushed off from the bar. He walked toward her, his steps steady, his eyes fixed on the barrier.
"How long," he said.
"Not long. A few minutes. Maybe less. But I cannot hold it forever. You have to go through as soon as it opens. Both of you."
She looked at Gajeel. He nodded.
Levy turned back to the barrier. She raised her hands again, tracing the runes, reading the patterns, unraveling the threads of Freed's magic one by one. The light flickered, pulsed, dimmed. A crack appeared in the center of the threshold, small at first, then wider, then wide enough for a man to pass.
"Now," she said. "Go now."
Natsu moved. He was through the crack before the light could close, before the runes could flare, before the barrier could push him back. He stood on the other side, in the open air, in the streets of Magnolia, and he did not look back.
Gajeel followed. He walked through the crack with his shoulders squared and his head high. The light pressed against him, tried to hold him, tried to keep him. He pushed through. The crack sealed behind him. The barrier returned to its steady pulse.
They were out.
Levy slumped against the table, exhausted, her work done. Happy flew to her side, pressing his small paws against her arm, making small sounds of concern. Makarov did not move. He watched Natsu through the window, watched him turn to face the town, watched him raise his head as if scenting the air.
The hunt had begun.
---
Mirajane found Elfman in an alley behind the market district. He was propped against a wall, his massive body slumped, his arm hanging at a wrong angle. His face was bloody. His chest was heaving. He was alive, but barely.
She ran to him. Her heels clicked on the cobblestones. Her dress, still pale and beautiful from the contest, was already stained with dust and something darker. She dropped to her knees beside him and pressed her hands against his wounds.
"Elfman. Elfman, look at me. Look at me."
His eyes fluttered open. He saw her face, saw the tears already falling, saw the fear she could not hide.
"Mira," he said. His voice was weak. "You are safe."
"Of course I am safe. I am always safe. You are the one who is not safe. You are the one who is bleeding. You are the one who..."
She stopped. Her hands were shaking. Her voice was shaking. She could not stop the tears.
"I am sorry," she said. "I am so sorry. I should have been there. I should have fought with you. I should have stood beside you and Lisanna and everyone. I should have..."
"Stop."
His hand found hers. His fingers were thick and clumsy, but his grip was gentle.
"Your smile," he said. "After the battles. When you smiled at us from the bar. That was enough. That was always enough."
Mirajane stared at him. Her tears fell onto his chest, onto his wounds, onto the hands that were trying to hold him together.
"You are a fool," she said.
"A real man is a fool," he replied. "It is part of the definition."
She laughed. It was a wet, broken sound, but it was a laugh. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his.
"I am going to fight," she said. "I am going to fight with you. From now on. No more hiding. No more smiling from the bar while others bleed."
Elfman closed his eyes. His hand squeezed hers.
"Good," he said. "About time."
---
Cana and Juvia ran through the streets of Magnolia, following the trail of runes that glowed on the walls and the cobblestones. Freed was ahead of them. They could see him sometimes, a flash of green hair, a glimpse of his sword, the edge of his coat disappearing around a corner.
He led them to the edge of the town, to the square where the old fountain stood dry and cracked. He stopped in the center and turned to face them. His face was calm. His sword was still at his hip. He had not drawn it yet.
"Two of you," he said. "I was expecting more."
Cana spread her cards. "You get what you get. And you do not complain."
Freed raised his hand. Runes flared around the edges of the square, lines of light that rose from the ground and met above their heads, forming a dome of shimmering gold.
"This barrier will not let you leave until one of you is unable to fight," he said. "That is the condition. That is the rule. When one of you falls, the other may go."
Juvia looked at Cana. Cana looked at Juvia.
"You think that will stop us," Cana said.
"I think it will make things interesting."
Freed drew his sword. The blade caught the light, gleamed once, settled into a ready position. He did not attack. He waited.
Cana threw her cards. They shot toward him like blades, spinning and sharp, each one aimed at a different point. Freed moved. His sword traced arcs in the air, deflecting the cards, sending them spinning into the barrier where they burst into flame.
Juvia raised her hands. Water rose from the fountain behind her, from the cracks in the cobblestones, from the air itself. It formed a wave, high and wide, and crashed toward Freed.
He jumped. The wave passed beneath him, harmless. He landed on the other side of the square, his sword still ready, his face still calm.
"You are fast," he said. "But speed is not enough."
He raised his hand again. Runes flared around Cana's feet, locking her in place. She struggled, but the magic held.
Juvia turned to help her. The barrier pulsed. The light dimmed. Something was happening above them.
Cana looked up. Through the dome of gold, she could see the sky. And through the sky, she could see the Thunder Palace. The floating orbs that Laxus had placed around the town. The weapons that could strike at any moment.
One of them was directly above the square.
Juvia saw it too. She saw the orb. She saw the light building within it. She saw what Freed had planned.
He was not trying to defeat them. He was trying to trap them. To hold them in place while the orb struck.
Juvia moved.
She did not run toward Freed. She did not run toward Cana. She ran toward the center of the square, toward the open space where the orb had the clearest shot. She raised her hands and water rose with her, not in a wave, not in a shield, but in a column that reached toward the sky.
Freed's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
Juvia did not answer. She could not answer. She was water now, her body dissolving, becoming the element she had always been. The column rose higher, faster, until it touched the orb.
The light inside the orb flared. The water around Juvia crackled and steamed. She screamed. The sound was not human, not water, not anything that Freed had heard before.
The orb exploded.
The blast shattered the dome. The barrier cracked, splintered, fell away in pieces of golden light that dissolved before they hit the ground. Cana was free. She stumbled forward, her cards raised, her eyes searching for the enemy.
Juvia fell.
Her body hit the cobblestones, limp and pale. Her dress was soaked. Her hair was plastered to her face. Her eyes were closed. Water dripped from her fingers, her hair, her lips. She was breathing, but barely.
Cana ran to her. She knelt beside her, pressed her hand against her chest, felt the weak flutter of her heart.
"Juvia. Juvia, wake up. Wake up."
Juvia's eyes fluttered. She looked at Cana, at her face, at the tears that were already falling.
"I did not want to hurt a comrade," Juvia whispered. Her voice was faint, barely there. "I only wanted to be a member of Fairy Tail. I only wanted to be accepted. I only wanted..."
She coughed. Water bubbled from her lips. Cana held her tighter.
"You are a member," Cana said. Her voice was thick. "You are one of us. You have been one of us since the day you arrived. You are Fairy Tail, Juvia. You are Fairy Tail."
Juvia smiled. It was a small thing, weak and pale, but it was real. Her eyes closed. Her body went limp. She was unconscious, but she was alive.
Cana laid her gently on the cobblestones. She stood. She turned to face Freed.
Her cards were in her hands. Her tears were on her cheeks. Her rage was in her eyes.
"FREED," she screamed.
He did not flinch. He stood at the edge of the square, his sword still drawn, his face still calm. But something in his eyes had changed. Something that looked like surprise. Something that looked like respect.
"She chose a comrade over herself," he said. "She chose to be hurt rather than hurt you. That is not something I expected."
Cana raised her cards. "You do not know us. You do not know any of us. You think strength is about power and magic and winning. You think Laxus is strong because he can destroy things." Her voice cracked. "But Juvia just showed you what real strength looks like. And you are going to pay for what you did to her."
Freed raised his sword. "Then come."
The cards flew. The battle continued.
---
Next Time: Battle for Fairy Tail (IV) - A Thunder God Tribe Falls